WSJ Tech News Briefing – Tech Minute: CoreWeave’s Third Quarter Revenue More Than Doubled

Date: November 11, 2025
Host: Zoe Culkin, The Wall Street Journal
Episode Focus: Rapid growth in cloud infrastructure for AI, major investments by Microsoft in AI in Europe, and significant moves from SoftBank in the AI ecosystem.

Episode Overview

This Tech Minute episode spotlights the booming demand for AI infrastructure as demonstrated by CoreWeave’s explosive revenue growth. It also covers Microsoft's deepening AI investments in Europe and SoftBank’s strategic financial maneuvers to back ChatGPT’s parent company, OpenAI. The tone is brisk and factual, emphasizing tech industry shifts, financial highlights, and implications for global AI capacity.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Quantum Computing’s Frontier

• Speaker: Katie Pizzolato, Vice President, IBM Quantum Platform (00:00)

  • Key Insight: The excitement in quantum computing today mirrors the early days of classical computing.
  • Focus on Unknown Applications: The biggest potential of quantum lies in applications yet to be imagined.
  • Impact Areas: Drug development, materials discovery, and optimization across industries.

  Notable Quote:

  “Personally, I'm most excited about the potential applications we don't know yet. It's very exciting to think about where we all sat at the dawn of classical computation and not to ever imagine where we are today.”
  — Katie Pizzolato (00:04)

2. CoreWeave’s Explosive Growth and Its Challenges

• Host: Zoe Culkin (00:33)

  • Financial Highlights:
    • Q3 revenue more than doubled to $1.36 billion.
    • Reported net loss of $110 million, significantly narrower than last year’s $359 million loss.
  • Market Reaction:
    • Despite revenue gains, shares fell over 5% after hours due to delays by a third-party data center developer.
    • Delay will push related capital expenditures and revenue into later quarters.
  • Industry Context: CoreWeave is a leading cloud provider for AI companies and demand for its services is “unprecedented.”

  Notable Quote:

  “Coreweave's third quarter revenue more than doubled, but shares fell more than 5% in after hours trading after the company said a delay by a third party data center developer would result in both capital expenditures and revenue associated with the customer being pushed back into subsequent quarters.”
  — Zoe Culkin (00:36)

3. Microsoft’s Massive AI Expansion in Europe

• Speaker: Zoe Culkin (01:13)
  • Investment Details:
    • Microsoft to invest over $10 billion in expanding AI infrastructure in Portugal.
    • Funding dedicated to a new data center hub in southwest Portugal, operational from early next year.
  • Partners Include: Nvidia UK, N Scale Global Holdings, and Start Campus.
  • Significance: One of Microsoft’s largest ever investments in European AI computing capacity.

4. SoftBank’s Strategic Realignment

• Speaker: Zoe Culkin (01:53)
  • Action Taken: SoftBank sold its stake in Nvidia for $5.8 billion.
  • Reason: To raise funds for its ambitious investment in OpenAI (the maker of ChatGPT).
  • Scale of Investment: SoftBank plans to invest $30 billion into OpenAI by year end—more than any other investor thus far.
  • Market Impact: Nvidia shares dipped 1.7% in pre-market trading following the news.

Timestamps of Key Segments

• 00:00 – Quantum computing possibilities with Katie Pizzolato (IBM)
• 00:33 – CoreWeave’s Q3 revenue and company challenges
• 01:13 – Microsoft’s $10B AI infrastructure investment in Portugal
• 01:53 – SoftBank exits Nvidia, pivots to fund ChatGPT’s parent company
• 02:22 – Sponsored IBM message (content not summarized)

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On where quantum will matter next:

  “Quantum computers are poised to accelerate time and cost efficiencies in really important fields like drug development, materials discovery, optimization, things that impact all industries.”
  — Katie Pizzolato (00:13)

• Summing up explosive AI infrastructure growth:

  “Coreweave said the results reflect a unprecedented demand for AI.”
  — Zoe Culkin (01:09)

• On Microsoft’s strategic push:

  “Microsoft said the investment will be one of its largest for AI computing capacity in Europe.”
  — Zoe Culkin (01:32)

• SoftBank’s bold gamble:

  “The company announced earlier this year its plan to invest $30 billion into the ChatGPT maker by the end of this year, more than any other investor thus far.”
  — Zoe Culkin (02:03)

Summary Takeaway

The episode delivers a fast-paced roundup of surging AI infrastructure demand, massive corporate investments, and the strategic moves of key tech players shaping the next generation of artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Emerging quantum possibilities sit at the horizon while capital—private and public—shifts rapidly to back the companies building tomorrow’s AI foundation.